Fabrication and electrochemical characterization of Pt–Pd impregnated nanocomposite polymer electrolyte membranes for high concentration DMFCs

Abstract

Bimetallic Pt-Pd impregnated nanocomposite polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared and the influence of Pd on Pt was evaluated towards a single cell performance. The fabricated membranes were characterised by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) attached with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) spectroscopy for identifying the structural and morphological characteristics, respectively. It was observed that the particle size of the bimetallic particle was increased with the increase of Pd content; the bimetallic particles were uniformly deposited with closely packed structure on the membrane surface. The performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) with normal membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and Pt-Pd impregnated nanocomposite with various compositions were studied for different methanol concentrations. Pt-Pd nanocomposite MEA with 76.91: 23.09 of atomic ratio exhibited an optimal performance with the maximum power density of 52.5 mWcm -2 . The result was benchmarked with MEA using commercially available Pt/C catalyst.

Quaternized poly(phenylene oxide) anion exchange membrane for alkaline direct methanol fuel cells in KOH‐free media

“…Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are applied widely in portable and other stationary applications considering its potential as a power source due to its high energy density, ease of storage, and use of liquid as a fuel without any humidification . Many researchers have reported high power density for DMFCs using proton exchange membranes (PEMs) . However DMFC based on PEMs suffer from many limitations such as slow reaction kinetics at anode, methanol cross‐over through the membrane, and high utilization of Pt‐based catalyst in conjunction to cost related issues .…”

One-step synthesis of trimetallic Pt–Pd–Ru nanodendrites as highly active electrocatalysts

“…Platinum (Pt) is an effective catalyst for various reactions such as methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). [1][2][3][4][5] However, its stability, its readiness to be contaminated by carbon monoxide and its high cost are critical issues that need to be addressed. Considerable efforts have been devoted to overcome these problems, predominantly focusing on controlling the morphology, size and composition of Pt-based nanocrystals (NCs).…”

“…Considerable efforts have been devoted to overcome these problems, predominantly focusing on controlling the morphology, size and composition of Pt-based nanocrystals (NCs). [4][5][6][7][8] For instance, Pt nanorods with a high density of mesopores have exhibited enhanced performance in MOR, compared to Pt nanorods and mesoporous Pt nanoparticles, 9 and concave Pt nanocubes have showed higher electrocatalytic performance for ORR in comparison with normal Pt cubes. 10 Recent progresses have demonstrated that bimetallic Pt-based NCs show improved catalytic activities benchmarked against monometallic Pt NCs.…”

The impact of anode design on fuel crossover of direct ethanol fuel cell

“…The methodology used for membrane pre-treatment and Pt-Pd impregnated nanocomposite membrane preparation method has been reported already in our previous work [13].…”